Do Academics Make Good Entrepreneurs?

Academics are usually good robots, they are trained to complete and fulfill tasks that are laid out for them under some kind of guidelines. Entrepreneurs are a different breed. There will always be exceptions to the rule of course, but that is generally the case.

In my experience Academics tend to be more careful, and slow. They are less likely to see the big picture, and instead focus on details that don't really matter when it comes to making money.

A good entrepreneur is willing to keep trying new things until they succeed, and not get stuck on one thing.

That's why most people fail, they get stuck doing one thing that has very little chance of working, and before long they run out of time.

Education doesn't tell us how to become good entrepreneurs. They only teach theories. They leave the practical applications to the students. This will serve as the foundation for business.

In real world, only individuals who have critical thinking and high self-esteem plus confidence are the best entrepreneurs. Experienced is often the best teacher.

Now that I have shown you my WIDE PAINT BRUSH, I can answer your question... :p



You know what they say...

Those who can do, do...

Those who cannot do, teach...

You apparently never met my U of M crowd. You might have seen us sitting on the lawns of the state capitol eating brownies, though.

Many academics know what their interests are - at least they did when I went to school. They know a lot about what direction they want to go in. When they get online, they know what fields they want to build businesses in and aren't as likely to be drawn into the "anything for a buck" mentality.

Have you checked out my website? It's not the biggest earning site on the net. Right now it's ratings on all but a few pages are dropping, too because I haven't had time to work on it - a few days of work though at it goes back up to page one for a lot of keywords - and it's still on page one for a lot of searches. It's a great and informative site. I didn't build it with the IM attitude that I just want something that would bring in the bucks. I built it because it's my first love off-line, where I make more at it than online periodically (seasonally, actually). It took a long time to build it up and it got chewed to crap - and I built it up again. Because I love it and it keeps me mentally stimulated and connected with others in my field and scientists, who I LOVE being able to call and chat with when I have questions - get the real dirt on stuff.

What do academics have that other's don't? Focus. Direction.

Whoever said we don't see the big picture was wrong. We see the big picture just fine - and are able to connect a few extra dots to enhance it. We're just less likely to dive into the net foaming at the mouth for quick money. Most of us aren't really sales people, the ones that are do pretty well. I see people love to ditch those who got educations - but it's only the people without one that have a problem with people who have one.

Funny -- I've seen a LOT of major names running around that actually are academics. In fact a lot of the "gurus" are educated. They are the people a lot of you first learned from. Someone had to have the knowledge to teach to everyone else. Did you think it was the people that started with forum questions like "how do i make moneys online" or "help me pick out a business" types that were the ones that got everyone else cranking?

I think if everyone who tries to justify the fact that educated people aren't as good as those who aren't went to school for a semester or two - not to make money but just to get some critical thinking skills and study something that cranks them like nothing else that they would find a whole world there that is just freaking all out awesomeness. There is more to life that being able to pull bucks off the net. There really is. If you don't believe it - you should come gem hunting with me sometime. Maybe you'd understand a few points that you seem to be missing.

If all you can say at the end of the day is that you make money online....well.......I'm sorry for you. Sounds limited and very dull to me.

My educational background is in veterinary medicine and IT.

I started my first business at the age of 17 to support myself through college.

After graduation I worked as a vet and went to get my IT training at the same time.

After I got my IT and networking certificates I stayed at home with my children while day trading stocks online.

After leaving my ex I pulled money out of the stock market because I needed more stability.

I joined a start-up where I was employed for several months until it went bankrupt.

I didn't want to go back to work for someone so I started doing IM. Been doing it since 2007.

I have a BA, MPhil and PhD and a couple of professional qualifications. Almost everyone I have met on the way has some kind of business on the side. This is either to help pay their way whilst studying or once they have secured a job in academia.

Another thing to consider is academics are reasonable well paid and often get to do a job they like or even love. The 'hate my job' drive is less in us than it would be in most people I guess, so it is more tempting to give up in IM compared to someone who absolutely must succeed or be poor and/or do a boring job.

I suspect it's pretty difficult to discuss here, constructively and sensibly, for two main reasons:-

(i) As we can already see in many of the replies above, people don't agree about what an "academic" is (though I think we probably all more or less agree about what an "entrepreneur" is);

(ii) As we see so regularly in so many other threads in which "IM or school" is discussed, in varying guises, there's often quite a wide - albeit usually well concealed - gulf in underlying attitude toward education, qualifications and academia between those who haven't been to college/university and those who have.

I have a first-class honours degree in history/philosophy/sociology of science and was supposed to start my very part-time PhD research in September of last year, and to teach a little class of first-year students once a week too, but I wasn't well enough and have postponed it all, in favour of things I can do purely from home. One day I'll start and eventually complete it (the research - probably not the teaching) but probably barely "use" it apart from maybe publishing some stuff in not-very-academic formats, because my own specialist subject happens to be of considerable and increasing popular interest and relevance: you can decide for yourself whether that'll make me an "academic". As I said, people won't agree about this, but having been offered a teaching position in a university, albeit a very junior, assistant and part-time one, makes me close enough - in my own estimation - to being an academic to be willing to try to answer from "that perspective", anyway.

Nothing in my background has been a limiting factor. The intellectual rigour of an academic training has been hugely beneficial when it comes to "seeing through the crap". I hope that doesn't come across as too arrogant and opinionated (), but I think we can all agree that in internet marketing, there's rather a lot of that to see through.

I agree with HeySal's observations in post #12 above.

And much though it would suit me to claim otherwise, I happen to think Sergey Brin and Larry Page were probably never academics at all (but I don't understand enough about their subject(s) to rely on myself to be certain about that).

Yes - I think academics make good entrepreneurs.

I dont see how it could hurt but there are to many true stories of people with only a high school diploma making millions. So i think it could go either way. (toss up?, depends more on the person's ability and drive etc., IMHO)

Let me say this the way I see it.

Academics are trained to follow the most predictable route, and avoid whatever is unpredictable. Unfortunately, to be an entrepreneur, you have to follow your guts - not logic or theory.

So many misconceptions in this thread it's mind blowing.

I really don't see how one is mutually exclusive of the other. Maybe I'm not educated enough to see the correlation, given that I am not an "academic."

Successful entrepreneurs come from all sorts of backgrounds, have all sorts of different personalities and varying levels of education. If you have the drive, determination, mindset and ability - you will be a great entrepreneur, regardless of how many degrees you do or do not have.

PS. You are not fooling anyone with your pointless one liners

Hi,

Let's drill down.

Do accountants make better entrepreneurs than the rest?

The only advantage to be on the more "academic" side of the spectrum is to easily spot the flaws in your initial 'hypothesis'.

You started talking about "making it online"... and in your later sentence you somehow implied that being an entrepreneur and making it online are the same.

I hope you didn't mean that only those that make it online are entrepreneurs, did you?

I cannot answer your question because I am not sure what was your question

Can academics be successful ONLINE?
Can academics be successful ENTREPRENEURS?
Can academics be FREE-SPIRITED?

P.S. I don't even know whether my expectation of flawless logic comes from my educated background or from my OCD... :confused:

I don't post very often but I thought I would chime in on this thread since I can relate to it.

My best subject in high school and college was Mathematics. I have a degree in IT.

Maybe this is why I'm having a hard time making it as an entrepreneur as much as I want to be successful.

I tend to be caught up with details than looking at the big picture.

I hope to change my thinking and hopefully will be successful in making it as an entrepreneur.

When I was in college all my room mates studied went to class etc etc.

3 of the 5 went on to be CPAs at one of the big 8(yes there used to be 8) accounting firms. The other 2 are CEO and CFO of billion dollar companies.

I played tennis and drank A LOT in school. I now hire accountants, own a multi million dollar company and make more than all 5 of them combined.

N1 result.

I do NOT think being an academic prevents you from being a good entrepreneur.

It is that MOST academics do things by the rules. They go to college, get a job work for others and are probably happy and satisfied with this. The VAST majority of people will never have a business of their own.

Thank goodness this is true, for if it were not there would NEVER be enough employees to work for the entrepreneurs.

The easy answer is ... it depends. There are some brilliant academics who make incredible entrepreneurs. Look at Hewlett and Packard. There was also a Caltech professor who eventually went on the start a little company called Intel.

Then there are brilliant academics who don't know the first thing about business or making money from one. So again from my perspective there are no hard and fast answers. The only thing is that an academic usually has great information to share which may be of interest to a lot of folks. That can be an integral part of a great business.

Notice the academics write a freaking book and still don't show good examples to prove their point.

Einstein was an entrepreneur? You listed inventors NOT entrepreneurs. Stick to the thread title

Being paid NOT to go to college

Pay Pal Co-Founder paying $100,000 NOT to go to college

PayPal Co-Founder Hands Out $100,000 Fellowships To Not Go To College : The Two-Way : NPR

People in academics are trained to be told what to do and how to do it. They are trained to spend the first 22ish years of their life in school and then right when they graduate college, they expect to get a job.
Companies want someone they can fit in a single position.

Most people who graduate college don't graduate college to then start their own business, they graduate to get a job within a company.

They become successful entrepreneurs when they see an idea that has 95% success rate. It's rare to have those opportunities right in front of your face.

People who dropout or don't go to college know that they need to fight to survive. It seems they are willing to fail more in order to succeed.


Also, the entrepreneur mindset isn't a genetic disposition. It's not giving to you at birth. It is a skill developed based on your experiences in life and how you're brought up. It's a drive to achieve a dream.

Don't say you have it or you don't. You have it or you haven't developed the mindset, the skill, the desire to be an entrepreneur...

I went to school to become an engineer- something I regret these days, now that I know IM is my true calling.

Academics can certainly become entrepreneurs... but I think it's a lot tougher.

In school you're taught there's a right answer and a wrong answer, you're taught to listen and obey, and you are taught to study, study, study

In the business/entrepreneurial world, there's more than one way to reach the end goal, you need self-discipline to think into the future and obey yourself (not a teacher or boss), and you have to do, do, do

To be honest, the only real advantage I see that academics have in the business world is that they know how to learn and study.

I don't even think you can argue that they have self-discpline, because it's a different type. Academics fear a bad grade or getting yelled at by a boss- entrepreneurs fear their business won't flourish.

Bottom line is- yes we academics can make good entrepreneurs, but the vast majority of us are going to over-analyze, over-study, and over-think EVERYTHING instead of actually taking action.

Academics look for the magic bullet- the one solution that's "the right one".

Entrepreneurs put a possible solution in front of people who want it.

Here's what I feel that makes someone successful in IM and probably whatever field one goes into, without this thought process you are sure to fail, this is what I believe...

1. Have a burning desire to achieve your definite goal.

2. Your goal should be BIG and definite.

3. Focus on one thing at a time and make it really BIG and exciting.

4. Believe that you can succeed. If you don't have belief create artificial belief by doing affirmations and visualization.

5. Setup a concrete specific and definite plan that lays down every nuts and bolts that will take you towards your end goal.

6. Take massive action towards your end goal.

7. Be persistent, never ever quit, no matter how much time or how many problems you face to reach there.

8. Get started, it is not necessary to be perfect to get started.

9. Focus in setting up systems. Create a system, test it, increase the speed of your system and then reinvest your profits into the system.

10. Don't fear to get out of your comfort zone as your success lies outside your comfort zone.

Just my 2 cents, this system makes people millionaires, this is what I believe....:rolleyes:

Being an academic and an entrepreneur are not mutually exclusive. If an academic has survival instinct he or she will do just fine. In fact I postulate that anyone can be an entrepreneur if their very survival depended on it. Then again most can be academics if they are so interest

I've also noticed that a lot of people who had a harsh upbringing usually did a lot better than those who came from a more pampered academic background. I think those who are uneducated do well because they don't really have a lot of safety nets and there situation is more so a do or die type of thing. Whereas with the educated people, they have time, money but no patience which is probably what leads to their downfall.

It seems as it the majority of marketers have been doing it part time for a while to help pay for our astronomical tuition prices...

It's simple: "No! They don't".

Being an academic doesn't mean that you can't be a good entrepreneur. But in reality most academics aren't.

really?

I was under the impression that most mcdonalds net is less than a million per year for the owner?

McDonalds Franchise - Buying a McDonalds Franchise For Sale - McDonalds Profits, Sales, Earnings - McDonalds FDD


Add to that the cost of between $650,000 to 2.1 mil to get started I am just not seeing it.

I once heard Eben Pagan say that the difference between an expert and a marketer is that the expert tells you what you should know, while the marketer tells you what you want to know.

Academics also tend to be more 'what' learners in that they are more concerned about the theory of something, while entrepreneurs are 'how' and 'what if' learners in that they take action on what they've learnt.

They make good managers and consultants but entrepreneurs - not so much IMHO. I've had some work for me and with me.

Many people with advanced degrees (masters and above) have a hard time even completing a blog or web site I've found. They are very theoretical and great quoting famous people but have a hard time completing simple common sense tasks.

Seriously I know people with advanced degrees and they are always working on their websites but never seem to be able to finish a basic website or blog. They are better working in corporate America or Academia on teams of developers to actually get things accomplished in my experience.

I remember donald trump once saying that a degree is good, but sometimes hey would rathar pick someone who is street smart and has experience. Rather than loaded up with PHD's and degrees mounted on walls.

Personally I think its difficult for a pure academic to become an entrepeneur. Rarely do things work in business, the way they are supposed to, as presented in a classroom.

Strong academic ability (i.e. great knowledge of maths, science, history etc) isn't a necessity. Some of the richest people in the world never even went to college. Being an entrepreneur takes a certain creative attitude and a ferocity in taking risks.

Academics train you to be a good employee other than an employer which is a character needed by an entrepreneur

Probably yes,
Why because the intelligence depends on the Academics and marks obtained. How every some are genius thanks for the knowledge.

WHOA! Someone has too much time on their hands

I'll always remember a line from the series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman where Clark is trying is trying to convince Lois to continue pursuing a romantic relationship with him just after she discovers his dual life and is freaked out trying to reconcile the guy she's really falling in love with and the icon she's had a hero crush on.

He says, "Superman is what I can do. Clark is who I am."

Being recognized as an academic (by whatever standards the recognizing person is using) is about what someone has done - their education and occupation.

Being a (successful) entrepreneur requires a certain mindset. It's more reliant on who you are.

The two are not mutually exclusive, but being successful in either requires so much time and effort that someone being extremely successful in both worlds is a rare thing.

Anyway, for my answer to the OP: No, most academics do not make good entrepreneurs, but neither do most of anyone else.

HA I LOVE it

I post WHOA someone has too much time on their hands and 2 guys jump in with their edick measurements lol You people are fun to screw with

Put it this way - the two biggest internet marketing companies in the world - Google and Facebook were both started in academia.

And anyway what is your definition of 'academic' and 'entrepreneur'? Don't you stop being an academic the moment you become an entrpreneur and vice versa?

Interesting question but I don't think it's that black and white - You get what you set your sights on and work towards, I don't think personality type really comes into it.

No, no no! No academic should every be allowed to become an entrepreneur. It defines the meaning of 'academic.' Us entrepreneurs need people like them to buy our great information products.

Academics are potential, actions are the end product. If academics make good entrepreneurs, then everyone with a degree is an entrepreneur.

academically speaking its irrelevant...

The true spirit of an entrepeuner is the willingness to take risks and live with the consequences. If your risk taking gene isnt turned on then you will struggle to create wealth (as opposed to just making money)

Its incidently why the working class shoot themselves in the foot constantly, they dont seem to grasp that wealth is created from the top down. And without the wealth creaters (IE rich people) there is no money for the workers.

Okay - you don't like emotion - lets use some logic.

95% of all people trying to make a living at IM fail. Are these people academics or just people who decided they want to run a business without any of the disciplines actually needed to do so? Would an academic not be able to use enough reason to know where their skill levels are concentrated and where they are weak? Is it the academics who decide to enter the field that have the highest statistics of failure? I can't prove that they aren't - but taking a look at the background of MANY who are doing well, I am seeing some higher educations at work.

2. Impetus -- Just because there are more non-academics online than academics is no reason to feel they are less suited. That's faulty logic. For one thing there are fewer academics than non-academics per capita in the first place. Secondly, I suppose if your best alternatives are fast food and factory assembly lines you probably have a lot more impetus to get online than those who can have a comfortable living doing something they are really interested in working for someone else. They are usually treated much better by companies than the lower level staff, because they are usually harder to replace than the average working stiff. Sometimes their bosses don't even understand enough of the academic's expert field TO tell them how to do their work - just what they need to happen as a result of it. Working for someone else when you are expert in a field allows you to call more of the shots and is not as miserable as having a micro manager breathing down your neck all day.

3. Did you stop to think that many of the accountants that do entrepreneur's books are often independent themselves? Some are just as much entrepreneurs as anyone else who has their own product and builds a business to sell it. They just offer services instead of products. . Where you see a difference between an entrepreneur and an independent accountant this is beyond me.

4 - that crack about academics having "entitlement attitudes" is just plain emotional. Wanting, and expecting, work in a chosen field that you have spent much time preparing for is not an "entitlement attitude". If you see working years to prepare for something being an "entitlement attitude" - how do you see getting online with no education and expecting to have your own business as NOT being one? Double standards like this reveal a very strong animosity that you are denying, yet revealing at the same time.

5. - Affiliate marketing is no more entrepreneurial than the brick and mortar field rep who works for a company. You work for the people who provide the products. Just because you pick your own hours and work online and may make your own website, doesn't make you a business owner -- you still have to follow that company's rules or they will get rid of you. If you can't tell the difference between business ownership and working for someone else, it's not a very good clue that you have any real concise idea of what you are talking about - just a concise attitude.

6. Do you know what is involved with constructing a bachelor's, master's, or a doctorate thesis? Nobody tells you HOW to do anything. The only requirement is that you cover an idea that has either not been explored before or in a way that successfully refutes an established view. It takes entrepreneurial skills up the ying to do it. Yet people who have done so successfully are seen as being less capable of thinking from that mindset just because they have not chosen to follow suit in their career? Let me stress once more -- lack of impetus does NOT indicate lack of ability.

-- For the person that asked people arguing in favor of academicians - where are YOUR stats? What exactly are the stats for percentage of failures at different education levels? Maybe we should get some stats that can be used for demographics. Oh, I'm not talking a silly WF poll. I'm talking about hiring a sociologist who would contract to do an actually scientifically valid data collection stream and analysis.

We already have general stats - 95% failure rate. Since so few of those online are academicians - that means those that aren't, really have a HUGE percentage of failure, so maybe they aren't as entrepreneurial minded as some want to think. Unfortunately for the OP who wanted to hear logic instead of emotion -- that fact alone just blows your whole position right out of the water. Sorry - but you want logic, you might well understand the nature of the subject. Your argument is called a motus ponens argument. It's one of the simplest forms of invalid logical argument structures. Forgive me for sounding "emotional" before. I should have explained it a tad more professionally, I guess.

So what would you do if every academician got online and started competing with you in business. You are looking at people who know how to analyze, synthesis, hypothesis. They are capable of learning new material with exceptional speed. They often are adept at writing reports to acquire funding - which puts them right up the alley for writing exceptional sales letters. They know how to reverse engineer other people's progression of action so they can develop new ways of doing things that are more efficient. They often have to have exceptional networking skills.

You've seen what academicians have done on the net already - google, Facebook, skype and a myriad other programs and businesses that are rock solid.

If academicians started looking at your business and decided to run you out of the market - How long do you think you'd last? I'm afraid you'd find you have greatly underestimated their creative and analytical abilities solely because of their scarcity.

Some great advice I recieved when I first started in IM-KISS

Keep It Super Simple!

Dont try to reinvent the wheel and dont put to much thought into it, just ACTION!

I'd say if the person is more pragmatic than just about theory, then he's much more likely to succeed

This is a 'It depends' sort of question. What sort of academic is it? Here's the downside to -some- academics. Many of them spend their entire lives in school and are groomed from a general knowledge to a very specific mindset. Whereas someone in their freshman year of university may have a superb general knowledge of the sciences, a PhD+10 professional years in a field doesn't give you much time to deal with other topics -- especially if you want to be at the head of the curve. This means a very narrow perspective.

On the other hand. These individuals also lead their own research teams, apply for grants, manage finances and attend conferences worldwide promoting their research and bringing brand new ideas to the table in their fields.

In essence, they have all the tools necessary, but I don't think academics are any different from others in that if you have an entrepreneur mindset, then you can be one. If you dont, then sorry.

Also entrepreneurship requires a lot of street smarts and business sense / interpersonal skills, which aren't taught in a classroom

I'm not sure how you define an academic, but being properly educated will afford you a huge benefit in the marketing world.

If you go through school to actually learn and understand the analytical process (as opposed to just rehashing what is said in order to get a good grade), then you can most certainly apply this to your business. Being able to understand why things are happening is hugely beneficial. Granted, intelligent people can do this whether they're educated or not, but being educated will help more than it hurts.

Well, I was academic - have a master on physics - and have been online since 2003.

I don´t have a day job and feed my babies only with this. Not rich, and most of my income is service, but still happy.

Was it tougher for me than for non academics? it was tough, but not sure the academics played such a role. My issues with IM as it is were:

- most of the money is expended in stupid things that ravage the environment and are actually not good for the person buying, so it took me a while to find a niche I am comfortable with.

- most of the methods taught are spammy and parasitical of other sites. So I had to find my own way to take traffic to my sites that feel right and actually compete with the other guys who don´t have my sissy limitations.

about other academics... I don´t know. There are different breeds - at least in physics - some might kick butts if they wanted, some others might not make it.

also consider that real academics have an "Open source" type of mentality, switching "service to humanity" mentality for a "service to self" one is tough as touches the core of the beliefs system.

just my 1.5 cents...

Sandra

Nope, I am no academic smartie, but I am already earning quite a lot from this game.

I have an MBA degree but whatever I learnt in business school has already been forgotten..

Now I am not saying that MBA is not helpful, its just that in class they teach theories which cant really be applied by most people in the real world.

Business school does not teach you to try new stuff.. they do not increase your creativity.. it just helps you in your presentation skills.

Has education helped me? Sure.

Has it facilitated me in starting my business or becoming a better business person? Not really..